Loft Object

Loft Object

Maya 8.0 Tutorial

How to Create a Loft Object in Maya

A loft object is started by drawing multiple curves in the workspace. By selecting the curves in the correct order, a skin is added that connects the profiles.

The curves should have the same number of points and travel in the same direction. A loft surface requires two or more curve shapes.

The curve shapes can be either open or closed, but should be of the same type for the entire object.

Step One

In the front view draw a curve (Create > CV Curve Tool) to form one of the profiles. Press Enter to accept curve.

In this example the curve has five points and travels from top to bottom. The Hollow Square indicates the first point and the U denotes the direction.

Step Two

Duplicate the initial curve (Edit > Duplicate) and move or scale the points to alter the shape.

Step Three

Move the second shape in the z direction.

Step Four

Select the curves in the correct order and choose Surfaces>Loft from the Surfaces menu set.

Twisted Shapes

Be careful when creating lofts with closed curves. In addition to the same point count, each curve's starting point (first vertex) must line up. If some are on the bottom and some are on the top, the geometry twists to follow the starting point of each curve.

Multiple Surface Options

In the Loft Options you can choose to create a Nurbs, Polygon, Subdiv or Bezier object.